Boeing Business Jets has received its first BBJ order from a customer in China and says it is approaching its 100th sale overall.
The Boeing/General Electric joint venture will not reveal the identity of the customer, saying only that it is a “Hong Kong-based operator”. Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China and Boeing says this is its first BBJ sale to the country.
“We are confident this order will be the first of many in the growing China market for VIP aircraft,” says Boeing. “Over the next few years, we anticipate steady growth throughout Asia.”
Of the 84 BBJs currently in service, about 10% are based in the Asia-Pacific region, the manufacturer says.
A dedicated BBJ field service office is now in place in Asia, located in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, where a key BBJ sale was made to Malaysia Airlines several years ago.
The field service office provides technical support to operators in the Australasia region and India.
Boeing says the Hong Kong deal lifts to 98 the number of BBJs ordered since the programme was launched in 1996. The baseline BBJ is based on Boeing’s 737-700, while a larger BBJ2 variant is based on the 737-800.
Source: Flight International
